Turning her passion into a business, Jayanti Rajagopalan from Hyderabad is recognised as one of the entrepreneurs “who is shaking up the Indian travel scene” and her “Detours” are bound to make you explore the city like never before.
“It wasn’t an epiphany of sorts, but there was an incident that remained with me for a long time,” says Jayanti, who moved to the city in 2006 and is the founder of Detours India, which offers offbeat and customised tours in and around the city.
“I was at King’s Cross Station, London, and saw people taking photographs at the platform 9¾, which was part of the Harry Potter movies. The movie was shot many years ago, but it managed to create a concept that was long remembered by people. I was, thus, inspired to create something that people would remember the city by,” she says.
Even though an “outsider” in Hyderabad, Jayanti feels that it was this factor that gave her an edge. “I moved to Hyderabad when I got a job offer to work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Before that I had worked as a retail manager with Titan industries for 11 years. I didn’t know my way around the city. But being an outsider helped. Many a times, people take for granted the city they are from, but as an outsider you want to explore and discover the new place you are at,” says Jayanti.
After quitting her job, Jayanti started Detours India in 2008. “My friends were supportive because I had been talking about doing some of my own in the field of food or travel. My parents, who live in Vizag, were concerned like any other Indian parent. Moreover, after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the travel industry was greatly hit and I was warned by many that I was starting a wrong business at the wrong time. But after working in the field of marketing for 13 years, I was ready to do something of my own,” she says. After taking this calculated risk, she then chalked out travel plans for ‘outsiders’ and like-minded people.
If you are a tourist and have just stepped into Hyderabad, how do you go about visiting the place? Do you just check out the places that your friends tell you about? Or do you wish to explore a particular interest such as food, arts, history etc? That’s where Detours India comes into place.
If you are passionate about jewellery, then there is a ‘Jewellery Detour’ which lasts for four to six hours and takes you through the bylanes of Chudi Bazaar. Or if your area of interest is food, then you have numerous Detours to choose from — Biryani, Andhra Spice, Hyderabadi vegetarian etc.
With May being off-season, there is more time at hand as there are comparatively less bookings. “October to early March is when we have bookings almost every day. But it’s during off-season, when we decide to rehash and drop tours and come up with new and interesting options and that’s what we will be doing this time round,” she says.
